problems in rain

[GhettoPop]

after driving in the rain, i started my stang after about an hour. the car will start fine, but when I give it gas, it does not raise the rpm's and the exhaust pops (backfiring?) if i really pressed down on the gas pedal it will pop real loud, so i avoid that worring that i'll break something. after about 5-10 blocks blocks it will be fine. seems to happen occasionally after a hard rain. someone suggested my problem could be a my lack of the stock dist. cap boot? any thoughts? i'm dumb

[crazypete]

This sounds entirely like an ignition (or lack of ignition) problem. I once drove the parental corolla through this wicked cool 30 foot wide, 1 foot deep puddle at the mall and she suddenly ran like crap. The brand new car was misfiring all over the place. If it happens in the rain and only the rain, then it is the extreme humidity causing the problems and that means dizzy cap boot or moisture inside the cap. Electric grease it up and put a bead of grease around the inside rim of the cap where it meets the distributor to seal it up. Plug boot slide off. At least mine do if you pull hard enough. Just go and salvage one from an donor wire.

[GhettoPop]

Originally posted by crazypete
Just go and salvage one from an donor wire.

lost me on the last line.........

just put in a new cap/rotor, elec. grease on all the cap terminals, spark plugs, and coil terminal. didnt grease the inside rim of the cap, will give that a try. just wierd since the problem only lasts a minute or two.

[crazypete]

I have an old 74' distributor and it uses a different kind of plug to go to the coil. I took an old saab primary wire and pulled the boot off of it and then pulled the boot from the wire that came with my new wireset and merged the two. I then slid the boots back on where they should go. By donor wire, I meant an old sparkplug wire from a previous wire change. I usually have an extra set laying around.

[Jerry77]

I had this problem also; but it always happened at the local car wash where I washed the engine. The problem would go away the next day usually.
I figured I forced water into some of the numerous quick-disconnect electrical plugs. I seperated all the elect. pluga and squirted in some silicon grease to help waterprof the plugs. Every time I seperate the plugs,I had more grease.

[tireburner163]

hose everything eletrical down with WD-40. It displaces water.



-Josh, aka the tireburner

[GhettoPop]

rain might not be doing it.

running like crap until it warms up, poor idle and choppy throttle response. seems to happen most after car sits for a long time and water temp is lowest. hitting the gas will make the car slow down and start bucking and popping, the more load you put on the engine the worse it gets. if you feather the gas, it will be ok, then when it warms everything is fine. thinking of cleaning the TB and IAC (again) , but dont think thats my problem, any ideas?

[crazypete]

Still sounds like an ignition problem but....

I also get that effect when my engine oil gets old.... runs like @ss cold then runs ok once it warms up. Maybe the ignition advance is the problem. Doesnt a cold engine need ...less advance?

Check the plug wires in the dark. I once had a wire get fried and could see sparks jumping to the headers.

[GhettoPop]

wires are good,no sparks at night but will check again FMS 9mm with like 25k on them. think i might replace anyway...........

so u guys think the timing is not set right?

[canukracer]

try using a spray bottle with water and a spoon full of salt in it, if there is a spark leak this will find it! tireburners is right use wd40 also check for carbon tracking at the coil tower it looks like a pencil line.

[72GrabberMav]

Try advancing the time, when my engine is cold, it runs fine with a couple degrees of retard, but after fully warmed up, when feathered it is ok, but when you get into it hard it seems like its hittin on 7 cylinders. Sounds like we have the same problem just at different engine temps. Today is was raining by the way, don't know if that had anything to do with it.

[GhettoPop]

Originally posted by canukracer
try using a spray bottle with water and a spoon full of salt in it, if there is a spark leak this will find it! tireburners is right use wd40 also check for carbon tracking at the coil tower it looks like a pencil line.

u mean spray down the entire lengths of all the spark plug wires? anything else?

as far as WD40, what exactly atr all thr items i should spay down? as i said, i dont think the problem is rain related anymore.......

[crazypete]

Dude, this would be kinda an obvious one but check for exhaust leaks. My car ran like complete @ss when I was leaking through the crossover tube. I had backfires and hesitation and very poor cold operation. When I got my new american thunder and stock 4 cat, she will actually idle and run cold.

[GhettoPop]

well a shop installed an o/r x-pipe and magnaflow catback less than a year ago, i can check it out and make sure connections are tight, whats the best way to check for a leak?

[crazypete]

Your ears =P

Actually, you hand is the best tool. I would say wait till winter and look for steam, but that would be useless advice. When the car is cold, jack it up and start it. Then just feel around the flanges and joints. Big culprits are the header to h-pipe flanges, the crossover and where the pipes enter the mufflers.

I assume you have no cats to get clogged. You could 'fog' a cylinder or two. People sometimes pour a teaspoon of oil down their sparkplug holes when storing the car for the winter so it doesnt rust inside the engine. It's supposed to smoke like there's no tommorrow when you go to start her in the spring. You might fog 1 cylinder on each bank and then you'd have plenty enough smoke to test with! Might have to clean those 2 plugs though. Not sure how that would affect an O2 sensor though....If you had a carb, you could go WEEEEEEE and turn some screws and get black smoke